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Categories: Hazel Rosetta Smith,
By Hazel Rosetta Smith
One hundred birthdays are exceptional. When additional digits are added to the package, it is miraculous. My dear sister friend, Augusta, crossed the century line and celebrated one hundred and one birthdays on Friday, January 26. We are longtime members of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, and that connection of love and respect has created a closeness like family.
She was born in Pensacola, Florida, the only child of Geneva Edwards and Lawrence Butler. She was destined to become an educator like her mother and musically inclined like her father, the musician.
Augusta took music lessons from her Aunt Alberta and was a high jumper on the track team for Tuskegee Institute, preparing to attend the tournaments in Germany when the war cancelled the trip. The next step was Elizabeth State University in Elizabeth, North Carolina where her mother’s brother taught science and math. After a short stint, her mother called her home to attend Alabama A&M University in Huntsville.
In 1941, Augusta migrated to Harlem and married her former high school sweetheart. She graduated from City College with a B.S. in Early Childhood and worked as a Psychiatric Aide at Rockland State Hospital for a decade, before stepping into her true destiny.
In 1970, she changed careers to teach fifth grade at P.S. 128 and then P.S. 153 (Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Elementary School.) When music and art was taken out of the school system, Augusta would not desert the children. She continued to teach music as a volunteer and led the student Glee Club.
She had a son, the late Melvin, Jr. and two daughters. Her daughter Deidre is a retired music teacher/choir director from Mumford High School, Detroit, Michigan. She directed the children’s and women’s choirs of Hartford Memorial Church in Detroit and has taught many well-known artists, including siblings of the famed Winans family.
Her daughter Michelle is a pianist, graduate of the Music & Arts High School in New York and an award-winning multi-talented creative artist.
Augusta remembers her mother’s adamant request regarding her move to Harlem – find a good Methodist church that has a good choir. St. Mark’s Methodist on Edgecombe Avenue was first choice until she moved to Lenox Avenue and joined the Abyssinian Baptist Church.
Augusta says with pride, “I became a good Baptist at a good church with a number of good choirs and I served as a good usher.” She attended the Christian Education Monday Bible Classes at noon and the Wednesday evening Manna Worship Services, in addition to the ministry of Black Teachers Who Care.
When the pandemic closed visiting hours, she and I became phone partners engaging in hours of conversations that continue to date. She is wise and witty, loves to read and discuss at length the latest book. The sound of Jazz is constant from her radio.
I am in awe of Augusta’s desire to keep abreast of church and community news. Notice the Harlem Community newspaper on her lap. She is a woman of faith and a source of inspiration and encouragement. God has blessed her mightily and I am blessed to be a witness of the light that surrounds her.
